A Jinchuuriki and a Desert Rose
by Aya Ayame
Summary: A series of one shots dedicated to Gaara and his lover.  Because I think Gaara was under appreciated in the anime and manga. GaaraxOC.
1. The Return

**Rated: T for Ta-da!**

Kaida Lau sat anxiously on a rocky ledge just outside of Suna. The sun bore down into the young Jounin's back as she nervously twiddled her thumbs and chewed mercilessly on her lower lip. Thoughts of a certain red head Jinchuuriki swam through her head.

_Dear Kami, please let Gaara be alright! _Kida prayed_. __I just want to be able to apologize for all those horrid things I said to him before he left._ _Though if what people have said is true and my appearance has changed drastically; then I highly doubt he'll even recognize me._

You see it had been a little over a year since the Sand Siblings left for the Chunin Exams, and Kaida's parting words to Gaara were far from friendly. It was also in that short time that Kaida experienced changes to her body from a lovely thing called puberty.

For instance chocolate brown hair that used to fall between her shoulder blades now came down to her lower back. Her facial features became sharp and more defined rather than chubby and childish. Womanly curves replaced her once stick straight frame, and she now reached five six (AN: That's feet and inches) instead of being a mere five foot even. The only thing that really remained the same about the young kunochi is that her clear blue eyes were still glossed over and hazy from the cataracts that filled them. Yes, Kaida would forever be blind.

Suddenly, a sound not to far off in the distance took Kaida from her thoughts, as she concentrated on listening to whomever or whatever it was that was making it's way toward Suna.

"I can't believe we had to carry him the entire way back!" An obnoxious male stated with ire in his voice.

"Shut up Kankuro!" A female responded, "He more than deserves to rest after what he went through!" Pain was evident in her voice.

Kaida's eyes widened as she recognized the voices, and stood up, running at full speed so that she could reach her friends.

"Kankuro! Temari! Gaara!" Kaida yelled, when she felt their chakra was only a few yards away from her.

Two of the three genins looked up and over at the fast approaching Jounin kunochi.

"Kaida-Chan." Temari whispered, a small sad smile grew on her face.

Stopping in front of the ninja group, Kaida bent over and started breathing heavily from the run she just endured.

"Kaida-Chan, are you okay?" Temari asked frantically, as she ran to the brunette's side to help her if the need be. This left Kankuro to support Gaara by himself.

"Y-y-yeah… Just a-a bit win-ded." Kaida said, through gasps.

Once Kaida's breathing had slowed down considerably, she stood up straight, and launched herself at Temari saying, "I missed you guys so much! I'm so glad you came back okay!"

"Yeah, about that," Temari started, unsure of how to explain to her what happened in Konaha.

"Did something bad happen?" Kaida asked, as she pulled away from Temari. Her face contorted into one of confusion and worry.

A pregnant pause passed, as Temari looked away from the blind girl toward the ground, unable to say anything.

Getting irritated at Temari's beating around the bush, Kankuro said, "Gaara let Shukaku out Kaida!"

Kaida's eyes widened, for a second, and she whispered, "Temari, lead me over to him."

"Kaida, I don't think-"

"JUST DO IT TEMARI!" Kaida yelled, startling the blonde genin.

Taking Kaida's left arm Temari led Kaida over to Gaara, fearing what might take place once Kaida felt the extent of Gaara's weakness.

Once they were in front of Gaara and Kankuro Temari stopped and put Kaida's hands on Gaara's shoulders.

Gently trailing her hands up to the boy's face, Kaida's eyes widened and filled with tears as she felt the toll of damage that had befallen her quiet friend. "Oh Gaara, what happened to you?"

"Kaida." Gaara whispered softly, as he felt the girl's hands on his face.

"Gaara?" Kaida questioned, a certain tension filled her voice.

"Kaida." Gaara said again gently, as he slowly raised his head to see his blind friend standing in front of him.

Kaida flung her arms around Gaara and buried her head in his right shoulder, tears flowing from her eyes, as she frantically said, "Gaara, I'm so sorry about all those horrible things I said to you before you left! I didn't mean any of it! I-"

"Kaida… it's alright." Gaara said, as he shakily put his arms around the sobbing girl, switching his support from Kankuro onto Kaida. "Stop crying… Kaida. You're stronger… than this."

Lifting her head from Gaara's shoulder, Kaida whispered, "I'm sorry Gaara."

"Kankuro, Temari, head back…to the village without us." Gaara said to his siblings.

Kankuro made a skeptical face, and opened his mouth to object, when Temari grabbed his arm and started dragging him away. "Kaida will bring him back to the village fine. She's strong enough to do so, and the two of them won't listen to anything we have to say to them."

"Hn." Kankuro responded, as he followed his sister back to the Sand Village.

Once Temari and Kankuro had gone of a considerable distance, Gaara turned his attention back to Kaida. A small smile touching his lips, as he saw her staring slightly of to the side of where his face actually was.

Lifting a hand to her face, Gaara shakily moved her head, so that it was positioned to where he was. "Kaida, I'm sorry… for not listening… to you. You were right… about everything. And I'm sorry… for treating you… so horridly… for the past few years. But I've changed now. I don't want… to be alone anymore." Gaara said softly.

Kaida's eyes widened at what Gaara said, and before she realized what she was doing, Kaida tapped the side of Gaara's face with her left hand.

A shocked expression reached Gaara's face, and he was a bit upset by the girl's movement.

"What was that for Kaida?" Gaara asked, his tone steely.

"For being a baka. You've never been alone Gaara, I've always been here for you. You just never acknowledged it. Also I remember specifically telling you to come back to me in good health, and you're all banged up." Kaida said, a smile graced her lips as she spoke.

Gaara sighed at the young kunochi, as he placed his forehead on hers saying, "I will never… understand you Kaida."

"Good, that means I'm doing my job right then." Kaida said, as she placed a small kiss on the cheek she tapped. "Now, let's get you home, so that you can get taken care of."

With that, Kaida helped Gaara back to Suna. A smile placed on her lips the whole time. Not only because Gaara came home, but because she knew something had happened to Gaara to melt the ice that had grown around his heart. Something that let a little bit of the childhood friend she remembered leak through. And she silently thanked whomever it was that spurred the sudden change in him.

**Why hello everybody!**

**So pretty much I had an idea for a Gaara story, but didn't know where to start with it so I decided to try something new. **

** Pretty much this story is going to be a bunch of one shots that just pop in my mind. If one comes before or after a certain shot, I will say so. Also, the rating will switch with each shot so I'll put the rating at the top of the shot.**

**First and final disclaimer in the shot as I only put one: I DON"T OWN NARUTO OR ANYTHING ASSOCIATED WITH IT! I only own Kaida Lau so if you want to use her ask.**

**I'm also open to suggestions or ideas for things you'd like to see with this odd pair. Sorry Gaara was a bit OOC.**

**Remember if you don't like it don't read it! Constructive and respectful criticism is appreciated, as well as reviews in general. If you flame me though I have no problem with sending a rather bitch-tastic message to you explaining what I feel about such a thing, but I really don't enjoy doing such things. Remember if you wouldn't want someone else to say it to you, you shouldn't say it to others.**

**Well that is all.**

**Chow!**

**Aaya!  
**


	2. Memory

**AN: This takes place 6 months before Gaara's kills his Uncle.**

Sabaku no Gaara was labeled a monster by the adults of Sunagakure since the day he was born. Therefore, it made sense for the children of Suna to follow the terrible example their parents had set for them and treat him in the same way.

One could then understand the shock the young boy felt one calm sunny day, when he felt a small tap on his shoulder.

"Excuse me, I was wondering if I could have a turn on the swing." A small high-pitched voice said from behind him.

Sea-foam green eyes widened as the young boy turned around in his seat to see a girl roughly his age standing there fidgeting nervously.

Studying the girl, he saw that she had chocolate brown hair that was braided into pigtails, lightly tan skin, and clear blue eyes that seemed to be hazed over and unfocused.

An awkward silence passed between the two children, before the girl said, "Well are you gonna answer?"

Gaara stared at the girl a moment or two more, before quietly asking, "Don't you know who I am?"

"No should I?" The girl retorted, her eyebrows furrowed as she spoke.

"Well everyone else does. The people of Suna normally stay away from me and don't talk to me, but when they do, they call me a monster…" Gaara whispered trailing off, as sadness filled his eyes.

The girl stood there thinking for a second, before her eyes widened, and she exclaimed, "Oh! You must be Sabaku no Gaara! You're the Kazekage's son! I've heard lots of stories about you from my Kaa-San. Though I don't think you sound as scary as she said you would."

Gaara gazed at the girl with a puzzled expression before he said, "She said I'd sound scary? Don't you mean she said I'd **look **scary?"

The girl giggled delightedly, while saying, "No silly! I meant sound. It wouldn't matter what you look like because I can't see."

"What do you mean you can't see?" Gaara queried.

"I mean I'm blind! Duh!" The girl said exasperated.

Gaara's eyes widened as everything about this strange girl finally made sense.

_No wonder her eyes aren't really focused on anything and she wasn't afraid of me when we first spoke!_ Gaara thought in astonishment.

"Hey, you still never answered my question Gaara-Sama!" The girl whined, tearing Gaara from his thoughts.

"Huh?" Gaara responded.

"Ugh! I wanted to know if I could swing on the swing!" The girl huffed.

Gaara blinked twice at the girl before saying, "So, you're really not afraid of me."

"Of course I'm not." The girl said nonchalantly.

"Why?" Gaara asked?

"Why should I be afraid of someone or something I can't see?" The girl replied. "Besides you don't sound scary or mean or like a bad person. Trust me, I would know if you did."

A small smile spread across Gaara's lips as he whispered a thank you to the girl.

He then saw a smile stretch across her face, then as if she thought of something truly genius, the girl shouted, "Hey Gaara-Sama, I have a wonderful idea! How 'bout we be friends!"

Shock covered Gaara's face and he was silent for two reasons:

1) Someone actually spoke kind words to him for once in his life.

2) This same person actually **wanted** to be **his** friend.

"Gaara-Sama, are you gonna give me an answer or not?" The young girl asked impatiently, as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Yes!" Gaara yelled a little to anxiously. "I-I mean y-yeah."

A smile tugged on the girl's lips as she said, "Good, then that we have to play together every day. Now, I actually have to go home. It's almost time for me to eat lunch."

The girl turned around and started walking away. That is until Gaara stood up from his swing, running after the girl, saying, "Wait! I remembered I don't know your name."

The girl turned around saying, "Took ya long enough to ask. My name is Kaida Lau."

"Kaida," Gaara said, seeing how the name flowed off of his tongue. "Got it. Are you gonna be out later Kaida…"

"Chan. Kaida-Chan. And yes, I'll be back out after I eat." Kaida responded.

With that, Kaida turned back around, running swiftly back to her house. Gaara on the other hand returned to his swing. A small smile graced his lips, as he sat down, and thought, _Maybe I won't be as lonely as I thought._

Gaara sat quietly behind his desk in the Kazekage office. A small smile perched on his lips as he thought back to the first time he met Kaida Lau. A noise from outside his office window, however; brought him from his reminiscing.

"Gaara-Kun!" A soothing voice yelled. "Gaara-Kun!"

Standing up, Gaara walked over to his window, opened it up, and stuck his head outside to see just the person he was thinking about. Though quite a lot had changed about her over the years.

Kaida's facial features were sharper and more pronounced. Her hair had grown significantly and was left to fall freely down her back. Her personality even toned down a bit too. Not much, but just enough so that she wasn't as hyper active as she used to be. Though the one thing that did not change about her was her hazed over blue eyes still could not see anything.

"Kaida-Chan, if you want to talk, come to my office." Gaara responded to her, before shutting his window.

Not even five minutes later, Gaara's office door flew opened, and a very irritated blind kunochi stood in his office.

"Gaara-Kun, what's taking you so long? You promised that you would come with me to meet my team today, and I waited for awhile, but now we're almost fifteen minutes late!" Kaida said in a semi-irritated tone.

"I'm sorry Kaida-Chan. It's just… I got caught up in something." Gaara said apologetically.

Kaida sighed before saying, "No Gaara, I'm sorry. I know you're really busy. It's just well…"

"You don't like to lie to your team." Gaara said, as he walked in front of Kaida and gently touched her cheek with the back of his hand.

Kaida blushed lightly at the contact, which made Gaara smile even more. Ever since he came back from the Chunin Exams, Gaara and Kaida had been experimenting with how far the boundaries of their relationship went. They weren't exactly a couple, but they were more than just friends, so neither one knew what type of contact was exactly appropriate.

"Y-yeah. You're right." Kaida said shakily. "B-but if you have to do s-some more work I-I can…"

Gaara put a finger on Kaida's lips and said, "I was actually just finished with work and getting ready to meet with you Kaida-Chan. I just started thinking about something is all."

"Oh! What were you thinking about?" Kaida asked eagerly.

"The day we met." Gaara responded, taking off the formal Kazekage robe to reveal his normal ninja attire.

Kaida laughed whimsically, and the sound made Gaara smile, as she said, "I remember that. We had a whole conversation without you even knowing my name."

"I never answered your question either." Gaara said.

"No you didn't." Kaida said smirking, as she slipped her hand in Gaara's. "Now come on, we're late to meet the team, and I already know they're going to give me an earful for it!"

Without another word, Gaara and Kaida casually made their way out of the Kazekage building to meet with Kaida's team. Both of them thinking about days when they were little and how much closer they had become to that day.

**So yeah I know the ending sucks. However, I wanted to get this part done so I could post it. I like the rest of it and though it was fun to write. Sorry if Gaara was a bit OOC. Also I know Kaida may seem a bit pushy or whatever, but I was really just trying to show a different more playful (I don't know if that's the word I'm looking for) side to her. She has a lot of layers and stuff that will come to pass. **

**Please review and I am open to people PMing me with an idea, or something you would like to see pass between Gaara and Kaida. Remember if you don't like it don't read it.**

**Ciao**

**Aya!  
**


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